Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky flew from Rome to Berlin on Wednesday. He was accompanied by two Eurofighters, each from Italy and Germany, but they had to pause over Austria. Selenskyj was reminded of Austria’s neutrality for a few minutes.
Unlike on the rest of the route, the German Air Force’s Airbus A319 had no fighter escort in Austrian airspace, Bundesheer spokesman Michael Bauer confirmed. However, no specific overflight permit was required for the government aircraft itself.
“Neither German nor Italian Eurofighters flew over Austrian territory,” said Bauer. The Airbus picked up the Ukrainian president in Rome on Saturday evening and took him to Berlin. In addition, two Eurofighters took off from Lechfeld Air Base in Bavaria, “and escorted him safely to Berlin”.
The military observed the aircraft movements. According to the spokesman, the Italian fighter planes left for the Austrian border and the Germans took over in their own airspace.
Fighter planes over Austria conceivable
In principle, it would also have been possible for the fighter pilots to cross Austrian territory. This would have required an overfly permit. “There would have been nothing against it,” said Bauer. After all, military aircraft from other countries fly over Austria several times a day. Last year there were 6550 overflights. Belligerent states, however, are not allowed.
“I can confirm that German air traffic control is responsible for air traffic control,” said DFS spokesman Arved Saur. North-south traffic over Tyrol was “delegated” to DFS “due to the short distance and short flight time in Austrian airspace,” said Austro Control spokesman Markus Pohanka. This is standard international practice. Austro Control controls parts of Slovenian and Hungarian airspace.
Source: Krone
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